Andrew Jackson Page
Andrew spoke to me about his role as Master Burton in the mini-series, Merlin's Apprentice which also starred Sam Neill and Miranda Richardson. This is a trancript of that interview.
Sam Neil has a wonderful dry sense of humour. He's somewhat introspective. It was a little overwhelming meeting him on set for the first time. As I approached the set I faced an enormous crucifix that represented the epitaph of Sir Gawain. Mission was stunningly beautiful. We walked near the edge of an enormous cliff face, surrounded by pastoral European-looking rolling hills. Sam Neil stood in the distance complete with beard, long hair, staff, and costume. The only thing missing was the Loreena McKennitt style soundtrack. I was a little nervous approaching him for the first time. I've watched him in numerous films and have tremendous respect for the man's work. The whole experience that day was surreal
“Master
Burton is a modern thinking pragmatist who would have been a successful
corporate man
in
the modern world.”
Master Burton is a modern thinking pragmatist who would have been a successful corporate man in the modern world. How ironic I'm drawn to the romanticized values of the middle ages and ended up being cast as someone out of sync with his time. The reality of living in the middle ages would likely destroy any romantic notions however. People simply didn't bathe. They wore lockets filled with resin to attract the body lice. When the locket was full, they emptied its dead contents and replaced it with fresh resin. There were some questions from wardrobe concerning my character's personal background. This is a man that rose from lower to upper class, which is nothing short of miraculous.
Master Burton understood accounting and was a literate man (rare for that period). How was this possible? I got together with a local writer who had done a tremendous amount of research on the middle ages and we collectively agreed, that Master Burton had been raised in the church.
The church was the only place for someone to learn accounting and develop the ability to read and write.
This
character decision was shared with the director and wardrobe and may have
influenced the ultimate designs for the character's clothing. I wore long
multi-layered priest-like robes throughout the production. I quickly developed
respect for women wearing long garments as I nearly tripped several times.
Master Burton had been a metal collector in his early adult years. It was the first real profession of the era."
Andrew is in The Sea Wolf Mini-Series
"I read Call Of The Wild and loved the book. I auditioned for this production. I said to my agent at the time, that this was the one I really, really want. I have a passionate interest in anything of a historical nature and anything involving the ocean. I grew up in Nova Scotia, and it will be going home for me because I will visit with family in that area. We're shooting on a period schooner."
“But
I'm fortunate as I get to play someone noble and principled
for a change."
"I
get the chance to meet Tim Roth who
is an exceptional actor and have admired his work for many many years.
He plays quite a despicable character in this. But I'm fortunate as
I get to play someone noble and principled for a change."
"Tim
Roth is amazing. Sebastian Koch is also one of the leads. He's the one
playing Wolf Larsen. Then we have Neve Campbell playing Maude Brewster.
There there are really evicting, and I also just found this out because
I will be flying up there with them at a ridiculous early hour, my other
castmates include Wayne Robson is a Canadian actor that I met many many
eons ago doing a production of Pride And Prejudice at the Royal Alex.
Peter McNeil, who I have to say is one of the most gifted actors on
the planet. I think he is highly under-rated. He's an incredible talent
and happy to see that he is in this production and there's an interesting
and wonderful actor, Julian Richings. It's a very charactery driven
piece. The mini-series is keeping with the novel. That whole world is
absolutely fascinating."
"They have been sending me material to prepare. Lots of boat terminology
and telling me that I have to provide my own sea sickness medication.
When I arrive they will be providing us with information on how to behave
appropriately and what not. I haven't been able to shave for several
days so once again I'm sporting a nasty beard. They said don't cut anything
or don't shave anything.I'm playing Johnson who is an American who is
of Swedish Scandanavian descent. My character in this has real issue
in being constantly referred to as Jansen. He reminds everyone that
he is Johnson an American."
On
Kyle XY
"That was an interesting shoot. There were a lot of questions about
that particular character. the style in which we were approaching the
role seemed to be evolving for me. On the page it read like a TV villain.
The producers didn't want that. They didn't want something that obvious.
The producers were adament that contemporary audiences weren't willing
as an audience anymore. We played with that. I enjoyed my time on the
show. But looking back on it, I just feel that there are other things
that I could have brought. There were things going on in my life where
I felt that I wasn't as grounded as a performer as I would have liked
to have been.
Podcasts
Andrew Jackson
I chatted with this fine actor about Merlin's Apprentice plus his appearence
in The Evidence.
Download >>
Andrew Jackson - 08
Edition
IAndrews discuses The Sea Wolf and his own projects that he's producing.
Download >>
Andrew
Jackson Page At Wanstrom Assoc.
On
Kyle Xy
There was one sequence that we shot in the forest. It was raning and I
was firing a weapon. There are many bits and bytes where I am stalking
the central character. I had to play a major scene with one actor from
the X-Files. And one has to flip their head around and see that this person
is not that person. He is an actor like yourself playing yet another character."
On
Coming Home Again
"The
working tile is called Coming Home Again. which is a novel which is written
by Dr. Peter Riddle. I got the rights to the novel. It's a family story.
My mother is a music teacher in Nova Scotia and she happens to be personal
friends with this professor. After he retired he started writing novels.
And he had seen my work in numerous productions. He thought I was the
perfect individual to play the central character. He falttered me further
by telling me that he had me in mind when he was writing the character.
I realized then that it was my responsibilty to make this project a reality
which meant donning the producer's cap. The initial stage is that you
get the righst to the novel and the next step is having the screen play
written which is what we are in the midst of now. It's a learning curve
for me. I have never produced. It's a heart warming story but it's also
touching on a subject matter that I think middle America gets a little
sensitive about. We are dealing with the issue of teenage prostitution.
I do recomend that people do read the novel because it is a beautiful
heart warming story. My character is someone who more or less has become
a recluse. He's cut himself off. He's lost his wife and is dealing with
some serious emotional scarring as a result of his loss. This young girl
ends up on his island. He knows nothing about her background. Through
their developing relationship which has to do with trust and issues of
trust, they are able to support one another."
I realized then that it was my responsibilty to make this project a reality
which meant donning the producer's cap
On
Moments With Prospero
"You have an ancient looking magical text which is the complete works
of Shakespeare. It appears in various places like per say, a forest and
allows this homeless man who is our central character to transcend his
daily exisitance. An individual scene from a Shakespeare play will give
meaning both to his life. It's a great opporunity to try to give some
some context and meaning to individual Shakespearen scenes and introduce
young people to Shakespeare. It will look like the movie, The Cell. It
will look more theatrical. It will have a dream like look interwoven with
the real world."
Photos
Courtesy Wanstrom And Associates
Special Thanks Bill Wantsrom and
Echo Bridge Entertainment.
